Dollies are used in industrial and manufacturing environments to convey materials between various stations around a factory floor. In a typical configuration such as that found in an automobile production facility, one or more dolly carts are hitched to a tow motor to facilitate the movement of such materials that are heavy, bulky or both. It is known that existing dolly train systems use a manual plug between the power-providing tow motor and the towed dollies. The power may be used to provide lighting (such as that used to indicate an operational status of a dolly, as well as to provide power for dolly-mounted limit switches.
The extra operator effort associated with manual plugging has led operators—either intentionally or unintentionally—to forego such plugging such that dolly trains may be pulled on the factory floor in a so-called “unhooked” configuration. This operating condition is undesirable in that it could lead to safety concerns and potential safety incidents. An example of this manual-based approach is shown in FIG. 1 where an operator 1 is shown plugging in a power-providing electrical connection 5 between a tow motor 10 and a dolly 20 prior to moving the dolly 20 that is outfitted with an electromechanical limit switch 22 that can act as a safety interlock to inform the operator as to whether items being carried on the dolly are in a secured or unsecured position. The author of the present disclosure has determined that it would be beneficial to automate the connectivity between the tow motor and the one or more dollies as a way to avoid such undesirable operating conditions.